Reversal in mortgage-lending hiring

LENDING HANDS: Nick Liuzza, president of Linear Title & Closing, says his company has seen great growth in recent years. Above, Liuzza speaks with software engineer Amanda Carter. / PBN PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD
LENDING HANDS: Nick Liuzza, president of Linear Title & Closing, says his company has seen great growth in recent years. Above, Liuzza speaks with software engineer Amanda Carter. / PBN PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth in an occasional series of stories that will feature the companies and industries creating jobs in the region.)

Many in the mortgage-lending profession lost their jobs as a result of the Great Recession and related housing-bubble collapse, but the cycle has reversed in the Ocean State due largely to the refinancing boom.
Linear Title & Closing of Middletown has seen remarkable growth in its portfolio over the last few years, causing the company to increase in size in order to keep up with demand. In January 2010, the company employed 50 people. Now, Linear has a staff of about 175 and counting. Most of those jobs are local; approximately 25 were added in out-of-state offices.
“We just opened a new office in Las Vegas, Nev., and we also have offices in Texas, Arizona and California,” said Nick Liuzza, president of Linear Title & Closing. “We opened them to serve large-volume markets and keep up with demand. Our work is done electronically and on the Internet, but it is also a good business to have a physical presence in those areas.”
Aside from lending rates being at historically low levels, the hiring boom is largely due to the company’s data-processing technology that updates loan-processing documents. The ability to prepare, modify or process documents quickly has helped Linear attract large originators to its client base.
Linear processes loan documents for its clients in every state from its processing center located in Middletown. The technology has increased efficiencies so more loans can be closed, and faster. Documents can be uploaded, files checked, and one can receive an immediate status update, make revisions and address the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. All updates are done in real time.
In addition to using technology to create a “paperless mortgage,” Liuzza gives credit to another of the company’s great assets; its staff.
Originally from New Orleans, Liuzza had heard that Rhode Island is a bad environment in which to grow a new business. He completely disagrees. “We believe the opposite; there is a large talent pool of collegiate graduates to draw from. There’s Bryant University, the University of Rhode Island, Salve Regina University, and there’s probably another eight or 10 schools in the area. For many of them it’s their first job, so they have no experience and that is fine with us. If an applicant is familiar with computer technology and shows a willingness to learn, that’s who we look for. We like to hire from the local area with homegrown talent and our employee turnover is extremely low,” he said. “It’s also nice to know that the graduates are staying in the state.”
Linear has been so successful that it recently created two other companies that serve its current business. Those two companies, Nexgen Compliance Solutions and Abstrax LLC are partners with Linear. Together they have 75 employees and are growing, and must move out of the existing building to make more space.
And the growth trend is national; U.S. Bancorp’s third-quarter profit in 2012 rose 14 percent compared to the same time last year, benefiting from a surge in home-loan refinancing. Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also posted third-quarter profits aided by government policies intended to help borrowers, as did Bank of America Corp.
Closer to home, Linear isn’t the only Rhode Island-based mortgage-servicing company that is enjoying a growth spurt.
“We have dramatically grown,” said Kurt Noyce, president of Embrace Home Loans Inc., a national mortgage-lending company whose corporate headquarters is in Newport. Noyce said the company provides many financial services, including lending for new-home purchases, but the company’s income also has benefited significantly from the home-refinancing market.
“From an activity standpoint we will do almost 60 percent [more business] in 2012 than we did in 2011, and that year was the second-largest year in 30 years. It’s been a significant increase fueled by low interest rates and some of the government-sponsored refinance programs.” Embrace has hired more than 100 people – including 90 in Rhode Island – in 2012.
Noyce thinks the growth trend in the industry will continue. “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke [has given] every indication that [the Fed is] going to do whatever possible to keep interest rates low. The question is, at what point will the market begin to dry up with customers that have already financed? A lot of the refinancings are from people that already refinanced a couple of years ago.
“Regrettably, there’s still an incredibly large universe of homeowners who are making their payments every month that are still kept outside of these refinancing opportunities as a result of, most predominantly, a lack of equity in their home,” he said. “It may be that their current mortgage is in excess of the value of their homes or it might be because of significantly tighter underwriting criteria.”
Semper Home Loans in Providence is another mortgage-lending company that is also experiencing a very active and productive market, particularly in refinancing. “With the rates at historic lows, business is definitely up, about 100 percent from last year,” said Chief Strategy Officer Raymond Duquette. As a result, Semper has also opened new offices across the nation, 10 in the last year alone.
In the past year, Semper has hired 50 people, 30 locally and 20 in the 10 offices it opened.
Duquette said the company competes with some of the local banks for new hires but has managed to hold its own. “We are doing well,” he said, “but it definitely is slim pickings out there when it comes to the skill positions.
As for the future, Duquette believes the company’s growth will continue, but he also hopes the current success will serve as a springboard for other opportunities. “Although the rates are low, we are in the process of building a sustainable business model as well, and it won’t solely rely on everyone qualifying for refinancing,” he said. •

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